Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities

Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities operates the Cook Arts Center and the Cook Library Center. Our mission is toenrich the lives of neighborhood youth through diverse and engaging programs at the Cook Arts Center and the Cook Library Center.

Our board and staff recognize the life-changing power of reading and the arts. With the help of many talented artists and committed volunteers, we strive to provide an enriching environment for children and adults living in the Grandville Avenue neighborhood, and beyond.

The Cook Arts Center provides access to a variety of artistic disciplines. Programs at the Arts Center celebrate the diversity of the neighborhood. They help to unlock our students' creative potential, allowing a chance for talent to find its foothold. Our programs provide experiences that help shape positive self-identities and promote self-awareness and social intelligence.

The Cook Library Center is a community resource focused on literacy and intellectual development. Our services and programs help meet many needs and interests of residents in the neighborhood. The Library is a safe place for discovering the pleasures of reading and learning.

The seeds of Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities (GAAH) were planted in the mid-1990s when the Roosevelt Park Neighborhood Association and Dominican Sisters-Grand Rapids joined forces. Their goal was to improve the lives of children in the Grandville Avenue (a.k.a. Roosevelt Park) neighborhood. Here are the results of this partnership: